Five hundred people across the Wheatbelt and Great Southern have now received help from the innovative Health Navigator service, the free telephone and video-conferencing scheme offered by the WA Country Health Service and the Silver Chain Group since 2013.
The service offers crucial support for medical staff and patients in rural areas, where rates of diabetes and heart disease were often higher than in the metropolitan area.
In the Wheatbelt 7.5 per cent of adults have diabetes of some form, compared with 6.3 per cent of adults statewide. Complications from diabetes account for 3.8 per cent of all deaths among Wheatbelt residents, compared with the Western Australian average of 1 per cent.
The Wheatbelt also has one of the highest rates of heart disease, with 26.5 per cent of adults experiencing some form, significantly higher than the national average of 21.5 per cent.
The 500th patient referral was an elderly man from the eastern Wheatbelt with heart failure and a long-term lung condition.
Thanks to the Health Navigator service, with the patient's permission, clinical information can be shared between their GP and any other health provider involved in their care to ensure everyone is working towards the same health outcome. This means the patient has the chance of being treated without hospitalisation.
The Health Navigator was developed and introduced as part of the State Government's Southern Inland Health Initiative made possible by Royalties for Regions.